


A Quiet Place - Voltron AU

by softb01willo



Category: A Quiet Place (2018), Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: A Quiet Place, A Quiet Place AU, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Listen I'm bad at romances but not as bad as LM and JDS, M/M, My first fic, Pidge and Hunk appear later, Shiro is the best brother, Voltron, am I supposed to be typing anything of actual relevance?, and some.. other people, don't murder me if it's bad, is this wild? Has this been done before? Who knows, keith is bad at feelings, klance, klance is canon king, slow burn?, these tags are terrible
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-30
Updated: 2019-04-16
Packaged: 2019-09-30 21:58:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 12,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17231936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/softb01willo/pseuds/softb01willo
Summary: With creatures lurking in the forest and ready to tear you apart with a single noise to provoke them, the world is in ruins. The world is ending. Keith thinks he and his best friend Shiro are the only ones left in this dystopian hell, until he stumbles across two boys in a beat up gas station convenience store.Then things started getting a little different.-•-in a post apocalyptic world, these two manage to be gay even with limited communication.It's obvious but I don't own the premise of A Quiet Place, nor is this a carbon copy of the movies plot. Just the universe it takes place in, so nobody sue me?Sorry about the crappy title, and the entire crappy story, but hey! My first fic on Ao3. Treat me well.





	1. Confrontation in the canned foods aisle

**Author's Note:**

> You don't need to have watched A Quiet Place, there's no spoilers (?) And hey, you've seen the trailers. You know what the movies about.
> 
> (edit) hi it's only a day later and I'm realising how terribly this is formatted, I wrote it on my phone and I have no idea how Ao3 works yet so!! I thrive off dumb bitch juice, my deepest apologies. The next chapters will be much easier to read

In a desolate plain, remnants of what used to be a quiet suburban area, was a beaten up gas station. On the outskirts of the empty town, its smashed windows and scattered items looked haunting. But everywhere did now.

It happened last year. It's maddening to think that this hell has lasted that long, but at the same time it isn't. 

Last year, the creatures appeared. Keith had no idea what happened to the rest of the world, but America fell apart. At the end of the month, the country was silent. 

Sometimes he thought he and Shiro were the only ones left.

Keith walked slowly through the car park, avoiding shattered glass with his battered bare feet.

Shoes made noise, and the soles of his feet had hardened considerably since last year so it was no trouble to walk on the tarmac. He looked at the automatic doors of the gas station shop, cautious to get close.  
They might make a noise. 

He peered round. Keith needed the supplies in there, so he had no choice but to step on the matted floor in front of the doors.  
They made the slightest swooshing noise as they opened, but not loud enough to be noticed. 

He exhaled through his nose and shook his head, briskly padding in.

It was a surpisingly large store for a rural towns gas station, with multiple aisles.  
One of them was upturned, bags of food split open and spilt all across the floor. 

Multiple flies were having dinner on the remains of the old food. Keith grimaced and continued looking around.

He couldnt take any of the packaged items, or anything that rustled.  
Dying because of a packet of chips wasn't the most honourable way to go.

Keith made his way to the tinned food, but the shelves were almost empty.  
Only a few cans of vegetables were left.

Chewing the inside of his mouth, he took a step forward to take the remaining cans, when there was a small crack underneath his foot.  
He froze and looked down to see what he stepped on.

A.. crayon?

He had snapped a small red crayon underneath his foot, and he picked it up, frowning.  
He shrugged and put it in his pocket, continuing to fill his cloth bag with wrapped up tins. He had to muffle them individually so they wouldn't clang together.

Putting the last tin in his bag and standing up, he heard the gentle sounds of feet. His eyes widened and his heart raced.

Was someone in here? Was a creature in here? Shuddering at the goosebumps that crawled up his arms, he hesitantly looked down the store. 

Patter patter. Footsteps again, but quicker. Short strides. It must be a person, Keith thought (and partially prayed).

And then, quietly running to the aisle Keith was in, was a young boy of about 7.

They froze on the spot and almost slipped at the sight of the tall masked man.

Scrambling frantically, Keith pulled down the bandana wrapped around his face and waved his hands, pressing a finger to his lips.

The little boy's eyes were wide but he nodded, reciprocating the gesture. He then proceeded to run away again, leaving Keith standing in the middle of the tinned food aisle with a very confused expression on his face.

Keith heard more gentle footsteps approach, and the little boy returned with another young man, walking on his tiptoes.

He gawked at Keith, and then to the little boy beside him who was clinging to his sleeve.

He, like the child, had tan skin and brown hair, with blue eyes glinting in the warm sunlight that beamed through the shattered windows. 

The boy must've been about Keith's age, if a year or so younger.  
He wore a blue baseball shirt and rolled up denim trousers, basically a teenage carbon copy of the little boy that was dragging him by the arm.

The two stared at each other until the stranger raised his hand and waved.  
Keith waved back slowly. These two looked pretty harmless, and he noticed the lanky boy was holding a full duffle bag. 

Keith raised his hands hesitantly and began to sign. "You came here looking for food too?"

All Keith got were blank stares. 

Glancing to the young boy and back to him, the brown haired boy narrowed his eyes and mouthed a very obvious ''what?''

Facepalming, Keith dragged his hands down his face and shook his head. 

The stranger didn't know sign language, clearly. It's a somewhat useful skill to have if you talk you risk getting eaten by a hideous beast.

"You," a jab in their direction, "came, here," walking his fingers along the air and pointing to the ground, "Looking," a hand to his forehead, pretending to scout, "for food?" he finished, pointing at a shelf of pasta.

He opened his mouth in realisation, nodding his head. The little boy nodded too, but he still looked confused.

It'd be incredibly hard to carry on talking to these two without the ease of ASL.

"How do you talk to each other?" Keith mouthed as clear as he could. 

A few seconds of squinting and the boys deciphered his message.

The older boy mimed writing on something while the younger one fumbled around, seemingly looking for something on his person. He took out a hardback notebook, but still searched his pockets.

'Paper.' The tall one mouthed over and over again until Keith nodded quickly and impatiently. 

The boy tugged on his brothers(?) sleeve and shrugged desperately, mouthing something. 

Then, Keith remembered the crayon he found on the floor.  
It had been snapped, but still usable. 

He offered it between the two of them, and it they took it with big grins and a thumbs up.

They had to be brothers, they had the exact same smile. One corner of the mouth quirked higher than the other and a dimple appeared on the left side.

The older sibling took the notebook and used the red crayon, lightly as he could so there was no dragging sound on the paper. He turned the book round and showed Keith the page.

 

'' Looking for shelter and candy. '' 

 

Keith raised and eyebrow and smiled a little at the older boy. Looking round and deciding there was nothing else to raid in this wreck of a building, he beckoned them out, stepping backwards on his tiptoes. 

The two boys looked at each other hesitantly and gave a thumbs up, making their way to the door with Keith.

Stepping onto the hot concrete, Keith looked around and saw a small park across the street. 

Waving his hand to the boys, he pointed to the clearing of grass and made his way across the street.

He exhaled quietly, a little smile creeping on his face.

Keith's own mind was beginning to convince itself that he and Shiro were the only survivors, at least in this part of the world, but common sense told him that was highly unlikely. He was glad to be proved wrong

It was good to see different faces, too.

Pressing a hand on a wooden bench to make sure it wouldn't creak, he set his bag down and sat.

The older brunette aimed to do the same thing but his younger brother was dragging him further towards the rusty playground, pointing to the swings. 

He grabbed the little boys wrist and put his two index fingers together as a cross and shook his head.

Keith watched as the two boys mouthed to each other, doing crazy hand gestures and eventually sticking their tongues out at each other, the younger boy traipsing off to the sandpit.

How on earth could they successfully communicate by acting like they're playing Charades on crack?

The tall lanky boy sat on the bench with Keith and opened the notepad, licking his finger and turning the pages slowly so they didn't rustle. 

He scribbled something down with the red crayon and handed the pad to Keith.

'' The names Lance ;) ''


	2. Lance and Sylvio

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Exposition, exposition, exposition.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as I'm writing this, it is 12:23 am in the UK! Happy new year!

Keith looked at the page and then up at the boy smiling at him cheesily, handing him the crayon. He assumed he should write his name too.

 

'' Keith. what about your little brother's name ? ''

 

Keith's note was in much neater and smaller writing than Lance's chicken scratch.

Leaning over to see what Keith had wrote, he could almost feel Lance grinning. Carefully taking the notebook and the crayon, he began writing again. As he did so, Keith watched the young boy play in the sand. He had a stick and seemed to be drawing something.

Keith must have zoned out because he felt a hard jab on his chest, and snapped his head back to Lance, who was poking him with the open book. The brown haired boy blinked and leaned to the side to get a better look at Keith. He raised his hand into a thumbs up with a questioning look on his face.  
Keith nodded and gave a thumbs up, taking the book.

'' He's not my brother, he's my nephew! :) and his name is Sylvio. ''

Keith nodded absent mindedly as he looked at the page. Glancing around, he circled his thumb on the rough paper, thinking what would be the most suitable question now. He looked up and saw that Lance was watching him intently. Nervously rubbing his neck, Keith started writing another note.

'' are you from these parts? Where are you headed? ''

Lance didn't even look at the note Keith wrote, instead he suddenly flipped the notebook round to a blank page and began scribbling something else.   
Lifting it up to show him, he aggressively poked the page.

 

'' you have a mullet. ''

 

Keith furrowed his brows and his mouth opened in confusion, reading the note and then looking back up at Lance. He touched his long hair, pulling his fingers through the small knots that were forming, shrugging at him.

Lance facepalmed and shook his head, acting like Keith's hairstyle was the worst thing happening to them at this point in their lives.

'' just because the world is ending, it does NOT mean you're allowed to look like an atrocity. '' 

The "Not" was underlined heavily. Keith read the note and just looked at Lance in disbelief. Complete and utter disbelief.   
Snatching the notebook from Lance, Keith was writing aggressively as he could without scratching the crayon against the paper.

'' my hairstyle isn't important. and at least I don't look like a fuckin spider in a baseball shirt. Read my first note ''

The look on Lance's face was worth every anxiety that he would take it the wrong way. His mouth opened and closed like a goldfish, blowing his cheeks out like one too, as if he was ready to shout a million insults right back out Keith but knew he couldn't. It was the funniest thing he'd seen in a long time and he covered his mouth to stifle his silent laughter as Lance furiously wrote in the little book.

Keith couldn't remember the last time he'd actually found something funny. Conversations with Shiro were always lighthearted, (that man doesn't have a negative bone in his damn body) but nothing much is funny in the apocolypse.   
Wiping his mouth and the smile off his face, he took the book that Lance was angrily offering in his direction. As he expected... It was long.

 

'' how. dare. you. I refuse to tolerate any criticism on my fashion sense from a man that wears fingerless gloves and a cropped jacket in 20 fucking 20. And it's not a hairSTYLE, because it has zero style. It's just hair. And my apologies for not rocking a six pack in the freaking apocolypse. And DON'T SWEAR IN THE BOOK. sylvio will read this

to answer your question, my family live in idaho but i came from los angeles. sylvio was staying with me when everything went down, and we're trying to find my family so we're basically going in any direction we can and hoping we end up in idaho :,)   
what about you, mr loner?''

 

Lance had scribbled out Keith's swear word from the previous note. When monsters are hunting you, does it really matter if a 7 year old knows what the word "fuck" is? Keith decided not to try and provoke another argument with Lance and began writing a reply, ignoring the growing cramp in his hand from holding the tiny red crayon.

 

'' you're sort of on the right track. we're in Nevada right now. have you and sylvio been walking across state ever since it started?  
my friend and I have a pretty solid base about two miles away, it's safe from the creatures. you said you were looking for shelter, you can stay there for a couple nights if you want.  
if you don't keep on insulting my clothes, that is. ''

 

Lance eagerly took the notebook. His writing was very large.. What were they going to do when the pages ran out? It was a clunky form of communication on its own, and it'd be hell trying to figure out what Lance was trying to say by reading his lips. Sylvio should be given a medal for managing to survive this long with an 18 year old dude in cuffed jeans as his guardian. 

The forementioned was pressing his other hand against his lips as he wrote, the notebook wobbling precariously on his knee.  
No, really. How in the hell are these two still alive?

Interrupting Keith's analytical train of thought on what this stranger would do in a life or death situation, Lance threw the crayon at Keith, making him flinch. It luckily landed in his lap, but it could've made a noticable noise if it landed on the wood of the bench, so he gave Lance a sharp nudge of warning.

 

'' well I would sooner decline a plate of my mothers cooking than an offer to stay somewhere that isn't the woods full of those ugly bastards. and i'll stop insulting your fashion (reluctantly)  
two miles isn't far when you've been walking non stop for six months. my calf muscles are the only things on my body with actual meat.   
California had a lot of survivors, being big as frick and all, but none of them lasted long when we were with them. i don't believe in god but that dude in the clouds has got big plans for me, i'm sure, because we managed to get out of there in one piece.  
my wrist is killing me from writing with this dumb crayon, so shall we set off for your weird base thing? please dont murder us :) ''

 

Keith rolled his eyes and shut the book gently. Handing it to Lance, he stood up and slung his bag over his shoulder, when he was brought to attention by the notebook falling on the grass with a very soft thump.

Lance was standing dead still, looking at the playground, and suddenly took off, almost kicking up the earth beneath his feet. Keith was left in the dust with the third confused expression he took on that day.   
Lance ran around the sandy playground, looking underneath all the slides, until sprinting into the forest.  
Idiot! He's going to make so much noise doing that! What the hell is that guy doing, just leaving Keith here with his damn nephew like some crazy crackhead -

Then Keith realized.

Sylvio was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bum bum bum
> 
> I am TERRIBLE with pacing.


	3. Pidge and Hunk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where the hell did that dumbass munchkin go?

Keith didn't know what to do. 

The forest was heavily overgrown and there were a million possibilities to make incredibly loud noises, but he couldn't just abandon Lance. Even if he was annoying, there might never be another person as nice as him in the godforsaken place, so Keith slung both his and Lance's bag over his shoulders, grabbed the notebook and ran into the forest after him.

Following the trail of trampled grass, Keith swallowed. Who was to say that Sylvio disappeared in this direction at all? This was a terrible idea. Keith should probably just go in the opposite direction and not bother.. But his feet were carrying him through the woods with no hesitation.   
Looking through the cracks of the trees and squinting, he couldn't see Lance or Sylvio.

Then, he saw a flash of colour pass through the trees in the distance. Yellow, then green.   
He couldn't exactly shout "who's there?" so he slowed his pace and tried to spot the colors again. People, maybe? 

He could've speculated further but he then got smashed into by the one and only Lance, almost toppling over before he grabbed his lithe arms and pulled himself back up from an untimely death in a bed of wild pansies.  
Lance's face was tearstained and he was pointing behind him frantically, breathing heavily. 

Keith put a finger on his lips, and wiggled Lance by his shoulder. He exhaled quietly as he could and shut his eyes. After a couple of seconds of calming down, he took the notebook from under Keith's arm and opened it slowly, retrieving the crayon from his pocket.

 

'' other people !!! ''

 

Lance's hot clammy hands left marks on the pages (gross) as he desperately pointed at his messy note.

Keith grimaced. Great. More people to worry about. He nodded to Lance and took the book, putting it in his bag and waving his hand, telling Lance to follow him.

Creeping through the wilderness and avoiding multiple patches of bramble, Keith tried to make his way towards the clearing of grass in the forest a few feet ahead, but three people were already there, and the third person was the one and only Sylvio.

The two others were about Keith and Lance's age, surprisingly. It was a young girl (most likely younger than them by a year or so) with short hair cut in a jagged fashion, a green baseball cap, and round glasses that flashed in the light. Her friend was a lot taller, with a broad physique. He had an orange headband tied round his messy black hair, and his skin was dark unlike his pale ginger friend. Both of them wore raggedy breezy clothing, the short one in a pale green vest with a white stripe down her middle and red shorts and the tall one in an yellow t-shirt and khaki shorts, with a huge rucksack strapped to him.  
Sylvio was leading the short one by the hand, mouthing things and pointing around.

Lance tore past from behind Keith, hitting their shoulders together as he ran to his nephew, almost tackling him to the ground.  
The two strangers jumped at his sudden appearance, backing away as they signed to each other.  
Oh, thank god. Someone to communicate with.   
Waving at them, Keith walked into the clearing.

''Don't worry, that's his uncle. Not a crazy person.'' He signed to them. He would've added a sarcastic remark at the end, but now was not the time. (and comedic timing in sign language is non existent as it is) 

The short one raised her eyebrows and looked at her friend. He shrugged, wringing his hands anxiously and glancing around.

''His nephew nearly killed us. There's a creature nearby. Let's not waste time with long introductions. I'm Pidge, he's Hunk."

Keith tensed and looked around. ''My name's Keith, that's Lance and Sylvio. Whereabouts?" He signed.

"Pidge" pointed to behind them. ''I think we lost it but I'm not talking any chances. Are there any safe buildings nearby?''

Keith bit his lip. ''I have a base that's an hours walk north of here. I was already heading there with Lance, but -"

Hunk distracted Keith from finishing his sentence by waving his arms desperately.

''I don't care if you're a crazy murderer, just get us out of these woods please." He signed with a nervous look, clasping his hands in a plea.

Keith nodded, and looked to Lance. He still had his arms round Sylvio, but he was staring at them with narrowed eyes. Of course, he had no idea what we were saying. Keith fought the urge to roll his eyes and took out the notebook, and Lance gave him the crayon.

'' Pidge and Hunk. Monster nearby. They're coming with us ''

Reading the note, Lance glanced at the two and gave a thumbs up at keith, picking up Sylvio.   
I wonder why he ran off like that? Did he see these two?

Shaking his head, he waved his hand and began walking out of the forest, now accompanied by four nervous and silent strangers instead of two.

This wasn't going to end well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well would you look at that, the gangs all here.


	4. The Highway

The group of five walked down the empty motorway (apart from Sylvio, whom Lance was carrying), the only things on the daunting stretch of road were upturned cars and trash blown from who knows where.  
The tarmac was hot beneath their feet, grains of the concrete uncomfortably sticking to their bare soles.

Keith liked taking the highway. There were no sources of sound, just the desolate sandy terrain and the road clearly leading you to your destination. With no trees to hide behind, he could see everything around him and that was good. You're used to seeing these roads busy and always noisy, so the silence was deafening at first. Keith had gotten used to it, though.

Lance, however, didn't see the comfort in it. He was limping quite badly on the harsh floor, and was struggling to carry Sylvio. Hunk and Pidge were a couple feet ahead, Keith in the centre, and Lance was about ten paces behind.

Keith turned round and beckoned his hand to him, gesturing to Sylvio. Lance perked up at Keith's sudden attention towards him, looking to his nephew, who was passed out asleep.  
Keith waved his hand again and Lance nodded, handing him the Sylvio's noodle body. Careful not to disturb him, Keith got Sylvio comfortably in his arms and began walking again, quickly to catch up with Hunk and Pidge. The two looked behind them, and saw they were lagging.

Pidge stopped and turned round. ''Is something wrong?'' She signed.

Lance was still a few feet behind, limping still. He assumed the weight of his nephew was what was causing the limp but it seems he was wrong. Keith looked to him and frowned.  
This was difficult. While holding Sylvio, he couldn't really sign, and definitely couldn't write in the book. He stopped to peer at Lance, raising an eyebrow in a quizzical manner.

Lance glanced round, as if he wasn't sure Keith was directing it at him or not. He looked down to his foot and gave a thumbs up, continuing to walk lopsidedly.   
It was easy to feel very helpless in this situation. With no ability to speak or communicate with ease, you're basically just a waste of space. A big old husk of uselessness. An empty shell of -

Hunk tapped Keiths shoulder politely.

''I'll take your kid so you can carry your boyfriend if you want. He looks injured.'' He signed, completely innocently.

Keith just poker faced, staring at his hands and then back up at Hunk, his eyebrows furrowed and mouth open. He blinked and shook his head, handing him Sylvio.

''Thank you. But he is NOT, my boyfriend. And he's not my kid. Lance is not my boyfriend. Not my boyfriend.'' Keith signed repeatedly, still shaking his head which confused Hunk a little, but he nodded all the same, readjusting Sylvio in his arms, who was still sleeping despite being moved around like he was the prize in Pass the Parcel.

''Sorry, I just assumed.'' Hunk signed clumsily and smiled. 

Pidge was looking at them with a sly smile, and waved her hand, signalling them to move forward, and they did so.  
Them having stopped, Lance was still stubbornly limping along the road about ten feet ahead of them.  
Keith ran over to him on his tiptoes, careful to avoid a puddle of petrol coming from an overturned car, and tapped Lance's shoulder.

He jumped and turned round, almost falling over on his unsteady balance of weight, lifting up his right foot like an injured dog.

Keith bent down and grabbed it, inspecting his foot. Lance wobbled and had to grab Keith's shoulders so he didn't fall down.   
There were many grazes, but the most noticable thing was red swelling at Lance's ankle. He prodded it with his finger and Lance's leg jerked. He kicked Keith away and almost fell over again, giving him the middle finger.

''Get on my back.'' Keith mouthed.

Lance narrowed his eyes. He waved his index finger in a circle, telling him to do it again.

Rolling his eyes to the back of his skull, Keith repeated silently. ''Get. On. My Back.''

His mouth dropping open, Lance scowled and shook his head vehemently. He grabbed the notebook and wrote slowly as he could in the state of rage and offense he seemed to be in from Keith offering to carry him.

 

'' I can WALK. '' 

 

Keith deadpanned at Lance as he shoved the book in his face, hand on his hips. This guy was annoying even when he couldn't talk. What the hell was he like when he could?  
Taking the book, Keith wrote a reply.

 

'' your ankle looks sprained. if you dont let me carry you you're just going to double the time it takes to get to the base. get on ''

Lance pouted with a frown at the page. Sighing silently and looking at Sylvio in Hunk's arms, he nodded.  
Finally. Keith turned round moving his arms back, and Lance took his shoulders and hopped on. Hooping his arms under his legs, Keith shuffled him to get comfortable and continued walking, catching up to Hunk and Pidge.

Turning around and walking backwards with the same sly smirk on her face, Pidge signed two words.

''Love birds.''

Keith frowned as she turned back round with her hands in her pockets. She loved birds? What on earth does that mean? There were no birds around here. Weird.

Lance was heavier than Keith expected, but very easy to carry all the same. His arms were wrapped around his neck and his chin resting on his shoulder, Keith could hear him breath.  
Why he was so hyperfocused on the feel of his heartbeat against his back he didn't know. Just from the tension of constantly being alert, probably.

Keith zoned out as they mindlessly walked down the highway. He felt like they were just going to be walking forever, towards the setting sun. It would be about 20 minutes before they came to the crossroads so he didn't have to focus. Just roads, roads, roads.

Is there anyone working on fixing this? On fixing Earth?  
It wasn't hard to imagine some crazy scientist in a basement trying to calibrate results on if his monster-killing machine would work, or maybe some magical saviour would  come and blast them away..  
Or maybe this was just the fate of the earth. Maybe these creatures were brought here to get rid of humankind, a reset for the planet. The race hasnt exactly treated the Earth well. A year ago, all Keith had to worry about was global warming. Now he's got murderous terrifying beasts on his doorstep, ready to murder you brutally at any bang or thud.

I think I preferred global warming, Keith thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fanfiction is so self indulgent.


	5. The Journey

After a quickly passing hour of walking, they finally came to the junction in the road that lead to Keith's place of sanctuary with Shiro. Adjusting Lance on his back, he pointed to the left turn.

By the corner there was a beaten up sign that had been crushed down at an obtuse angle, but it still clearly read "Forest Park". If you bent down and tilted your head to the side...

Checking to make sure everyone was with him and alright, Keith continued down the road.

Walking a couple feet behind were Hunk and Pidge, along with a sleeping Sylvio in the taller ones arms. Pidge tapped her friend's arm and turned her torso towards him as they walked so he could see what she was signing.

''Do you trust these two?'' she signed, not including Sylvio, seeing as a 7 year old wasn't capable of backstabbing. Or at least, hopefully not.

Hunk pouted a little and looked at the sky.

''I wouldn't be carrying his kid if I didnt.'' He signed lopsidedly with said child in his arms. ''They wouldn't gain anything if we died, and they're just teens like us. We don't have anything to lose except each other.''

Pidge nodded, looking at the two boys ahead of them. They weren't given much context about them, they could've met today or six months ago. It was hard to tell.  
The long haired dude called Keith seemed impartial about it all. What would they do after they get to the base? Stay for a few nights, sure. Then what? Go on the road again?  
Unanswered questions are no rarity, so Pidge just shrugged them off.

She and Hunk met right at the beginning of it all, went into hiding together in some old farm out in the middle of nowhere of Utah. When they ran out food they just.. walked. A bunch. The past few months were a blur for both of them, the only clear memories were the experiences with the monsters.  
Shivers ran up Pidge's spine and she grit her teeth, pushing her glasses back up the bridge of her nose.   
I am going to avenge my family, she thought to herself. I'm the one who's gonna fix this stupid planet, and I'm gonna send those things back to hell where they came from.

 

Still on Keith's back, Lance was doodling in the notebook.   
Keith could of course see him do so, as Lance was basically using his chest as an easel.

It was quite good, seeing as it was just a mindless doodles on a shitty broken crayon that was about 2 inches long. But at the same time, he wanted to smack his hands away so he would stop wasting paper... 

Doesn't really matter. He might not have to worry about Lance's dumb notebook after this.  
Who knows how Keith would feel about Lance once he could actually get to know him, but he doubted he would want to stay with him and Shiro. He wasn't sure about the other two, he knew them even less. It's funny how alright they were all with each other. Was this how it always was when four teens meet up in the end of the world? Not to mention when a little kid is involved.

It helped that no speaking was involved. Rash feelings had to be calmed down and communicated quietly, and its hard to have a heated conversation in silence.   
Then again.. Lance seemed to make that possible. It was just an immature defensive mode, Keith saw that a lot at the school Shiro taught at. He actually saw that a lot in kids that liked another... Frowning a little to himself, he swallowed. No, its there too in silly rivalries. Lance was probably just the kind of person that got picked on too much and now he feels he's being attacked all the time.

Or maybe not. It'd be best if Lance could tell him personally why he had something against him from the start.

Keith realized he'd zoned out again, and snapped his head up. Right, at the entrance of the forest park.  
All he had to do was follow the spruce trees with a neon orange stripe of paint down the middle, and he'd be back home. If you could call it that...

He felt like Ashitaka out of Princess Mononoke as they stepped through the stone archway and onto the  mossy ground. There were monsters in the forest, sure, but Keith still felt calmer here. He could hear the distant rush of the waterfall and the birds singing high in the trees.  
Just a little further.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kind of a filler chapter?
> 
> And as a citizen of the UK, sorry if my concept of the states is a little off! I had to remember to think with the mindset that just one state is bigger than my entire country.. It's weird.


	6. Sanctuary

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's some nice fun stuff, and longer than the last pathetic chapter. Don't worry, we'll get back to some sweet existential angst soon.

As they stepped into the park, Lance tapped Keith's shoulder and slid off his back, putting his thumb and his index finger together for the ' Okay' signal. Keith nodded and watched him go up to Hunk and check on his nephew. Lance awkwardly hesitated as he tried to figure out how to say thank you to him, so he just gave two thumbs up and bowed.

Hunk smiled and gave a thumbs up back. They exchanged some gesticulation before Hunk slipped Sylvio back into Lance's arms.

He was still limping a little, but he was managing a lot better on the soft ground. Hunk adjusted his backpack while stretching, and they continued walking through park.  
All the greenery was heavily overgrown , but there was a clear path through the trees. And by ''clear'' I mean the brambles were kicked to to one side and the weeds flattened. 

Pidge was curiously looking round. This was just a normal forest reserve, so she was excited to see what the base consisted of, praying she wouldn't be harshly disappointed.  
Crossing over a small hill, the group came across the waterfall they had heard. It came from a large cliff and continued on through a fast flowing wide creek, deep but wouldn't go past your waist in the deep parts. It was quite beautiful in the dusks sunlight.  
Keith waved for them to continue and stepped into a shallow dip in the water, wading through.  
They all followed suit, Lance a little cautiously. If he slipped in the water with Sylvio then he was monumentally screwed.

They all managed though, and Keith waited for everyone to leave the river before approaching the rocky hill where the waterfalls source came from and waved them over.  
They all gave him a confused expression as he seemed to be inviting them inside solid rock, but he stepped on a small stone ledge right behind the rushing waterfall and disappearing.

Pidge was the first to run after him to see where he went, then Lance, and then Hunk. They all edged their way in and saw that behind the waterfall, the cliff was roughly carved out into a space the size of a living room.

There were two mattresses laid on the floor, covered with some messy quilts. In one corner there were multiple large boxes, with a sack of some kind leaned against it.   
Along with a small portable stove and  some sort of wooden board on the floor, it was quite barren and small but it certainly looked livable.

"Here we are." Keith said, setting his bag and Lance's down.

Everyone jumped out of their skins, and Hunk gasped loudly, not helping everyones panic.

''Wait, wait! The waterfall. The creatures can't hear us, can they?" Pidge said, turning to look at the rushing water covering the entrance of the cave.

"Bingo." Keith said, crouching down and unpacking the cans of food.

Hunk fell on his knees and moaned hoarsely. "Oh my gosh. I think my heart broke." 

Sylvio stirred against Lance's shoulder and he smiled at him, ruffling his nephews hair.

Keith stood up, taking off his jacket. ''Lance, you can put him on the beds if you want. Oh, and you too. Rest your leg.''

Lance continued holding Sylvio, looking at Keith. 

''..What?'' He said, looking back at Lance, making him jump.

He set a tired Sylvio down and cleared his throat. ''Nothing, you just don't sound like I thought you would. You got some nice vocal fry going on there.''

Raising an eyebrow, Keith set the notebook on the desk along with the crayon. ''What, did you expect me to sound like a 12 year old boy?''

''Oh, so the sarcasms still there. Great.'' 

Pidge smirked. ''You guys want some space to bicker?''

''Yeah, I need like a ten foot radius between me and him.'' Lance said, but it was a lot more playful than his previous comments.

''...He carried you for like half an hour.''

Interrupting Lance's defensive spluttering was Sylvio yawning.

''Is it over?'' He said, rubbing his eyes. 

Lance collapsed down on the floor and rubbed his swollen ankle. ''Yeah buddy, we're at Keith's now.''

Sylvio mimicked the manner Lance clumsily sat down on the floor, (which didn't have the same effect what with the lack of long limbs) stretching his legs.

''No, the monsters. You're all talking and we're not dead. Is it over?''

Lance's expression softened into a sad smile. ''Nah. There are still monsters.''

Keith got up and handed Sylvio a piece of candy. ''You're safe though, the monsters can't hear us. Here, eat this. I was saving it for a suitable time, and I think this is it.''

Sylvio's eyes opened like saucers, his dark blue eyes seemed to gleam in the presence of the round ball of sugar in a shiny orange wrapper. ''You have candy!?'' He squealed and took it, gawking.

''Are you gonna poison us all with expired candy, Keith?'' Pidge said, sitting down and cleaning her glasses with her shirt.

''Best way to die.'' Hunk said as he took off his huge backpack and collapsed on the floor. ''Oh my gosh. I've been walking for so long. My legs. Ugh, my throat hurts.''

''Hey, candy doesn't expire!'' Keith defended. 

''Are you gonna site your sources on that?'' Pidge retorted, her glasses gleaming as she put them back on.

Keith raised a hand, about to continue, but decided against as he did not have any sources to site that candy doesn't expire.  
''I'll assume everyone needs some water, too.'' Keith said, taking a plastic beaker from one of the boxes.

Hunk sat up and raised his hand, as did Lance and Pidge. Sylvio was too busy savouring the candy in his mouth to notice anything that was going on.

''Wait, you have plumbing here?! How does that work?'' Hunk said, sitting up again.

Keith stared at him.

Keith continued to make eye contact with Hunk as he made his way over to the cave opening and stuck his hand out into the water, and when he pulled his hand back in the beaker was full. 

''Yeah, plumbing.' He said as he handed the cup to Hunk. Pidge cackled as Hunk facepalmed.

Lance looked round the room, observing the two mattresses.   
''Keith, you said your friend lives here too, right?'' He said, his voice a little raspy from not speaking.

Keith nodded, taking the cup back from Hunk after he gulped down its contents and plunging it back into the clear water. ''Shiro. He's probably out fishing right now, he should be back soon.'' He said as he handed Lance the cup,  looking out at the forest through the water.

Looking up at him as he sipped the cool spring water, Lance smiled a little.

''It's good to feel normal again, huh?''


	7. Dinner with the Broganes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I had a field day with this one.

Forty minutes after their arrival, everyone slowly got more comfortable. It was hard to feel relaxed at first, but eventually they eased.  
Hunk was sat on one of the mattresses with Sylvio, happily listening to the young boy rambling on about his family and other random 7 year old stuff.

Pidge was in a corner working on some sort of modified portable radio, and would simply say it was a "project" whenever anyone asked her about it. Hunk said not to try and get anything out of her when she was tinkering, saying she was 'too in the zone'.

Lance was sitting at the edge of the entrance just behind the ever flowing waterfall, his bad ankle dipped in the clear water. He occasionally added onto Hunk and Sylvio's conversations, but otherwise he was lost in thought.

The only one tense was Keith, who was pacing round the cave. The sun had almost completely set and Shiro wasn't back yet, which wasn't normal. Chewing on his lip, he scuffed his feet on the stoney floor, thinning his lips in a worrysome expression.

Pidge looked up and adjusted her glasses. ''You could just go look for him, Keith.''

He looked up and sighed, flexing his fingers and cracking his knuckles (making Lance cringe).   
''I dont know. I.. don't want to risk leaving you guys alone.''

Lance looked up with a frown. ''Keith, we've all spent a year being hunted by murderous monsters. You don't need to babysit us.'' He said, crossing his arms.

Keith sighed. ''Not what I meant Lance, but whatever. Fine. If I don't come back, then you're responsible for the group.''

Lance stammered in protest as Keith slipped out of the cave, sitting up.  
''Oh.. crap. Whatever.''

''Man, I hope he wasn't being serious.'' Pidge muttered.

''I heard that!''

 

Walking through the grass, Keith followed the trail down the river to Shiro's fishing spot. The sky was a deep indigo and the clouds a dark auburn, stars appearing in the sky. Keith looked up at the sky as he walked.   
If only he could be there. In the stars, away from all this. Rubbing his eyes, Keith ducked his head out of the clouds and back into reality as he realized he was at Shiro's fishing spot.  
None of his supplies were there.. That's strange. Where the hell was he..?

Suddenly something heavy landed on Keith's shoulder, making him whip around at the speed of light and instinctively got into a position to punch whatever was behind him. Though, that wasn't necassary, because it was Shiro behind him.  
Grinning and putting his hands up in defense, Keith relaxed his posture and stood up.

''Jerk.'' Keith signed.

''Glad to see you too. Sorry if I scared you, I tried a new spot to fish in today.'' Shiro signed back, tucking his fishing spear under his arm.

Keith leant to his side and peered at the earnings, looking up to Shiro and signing,'We're going to have to get out the rice. I've brought guests.''

-

''Everybody, this is Shiro.'' Keith said, stepping into the cave, and the older man followed, smiling brightly and waving.

''Hey.'' Lance said, taking his swollen foot out of the water and waving his hand.

''Hi! I'm Hunk -''

He was interrupted by a clatter. Pidge had dropped her tools.

''Professor Shirogane.'' Pidge whispered.

Shiro blinked and took a step back. ''... Matt?!''  

Pidge swallowed and shook her head, tears welling in her eyes as she got up and tackled him into a hug. Everyone was quiet as she then pulled away to look up at him. Shiro's mouth opened.  
''Oh my god, Katie?''

Pidge burst into tears and covered her eyes under her glasses, nodding.

Hunk stared with his mouth open while Lance sank his foot back into the water and slouched down. ''what the fuuuuck.'' he whispered.

Keith was the most confused out of them all. He recalled Shiro mentioning a Matt at school, but never met him. But even then, this wasn't him. Katie? Had Pidge lied about her name? 

''I-I - Sorry. Crap. I shouldn't be crying.'' She said, sniffling and clearing her throat. ''U-Uh, Hunk. This is one of my dads colleagues.'' She said with a small laugh. ''Weird, right?''

''It's a small world.'' Shiro said with a sad smile. ''I'm glad to see you're okay, Katie.''  
They hugged again.

''I this sort of thing only happened in a telenovelas.'' Lance said, a little louder than he intended to.

-

Everyone sat on the ground in front of the small stove as it glowed faintly, lighting everyone's faces orange. None of them had eaten a hot meal since last year, so to eat barely prepared fish and some lukewarm rice was heaven on earth. Shiro got the full story of how everyone met, listening intently.

''Lance, you and Sylvio, where had you come from again?'' He asked them.

''Oh,'' Lance said with a mouthful of rice, swallowing before he answered. 'Sylvio lived in Idaho, I lived in LA.'' 

Hunk wiped his mouth. ''Hey, how come it took you a year to get from Cali to Nevada? I know it isn't exactly a days hike, but you can walk across America in like, six months.''

Lance grimaced and looked to Sylvio sitting beside him, who was engrossed in the skeleton of  a minnow. He pushed his wooden bowl aside and scooted closer.

''We.. met a group. We didn't know what else to do, so we joined them. They were scared and had guns. They killed every monster they saw, but that obviously didn't work. They eventually drew in every monster around and swarmed us.. I'm sure you can assume what happened next.''

Everyone was quiet, staring at Lance. He awkwardly rubbed his neck and took a sip of water.

''Lance, how in the hell did you two survive that?'' Keith said incredulously, furrowing his brows at him.

''Uh, the leader of the group, he called himself Lotor.. He told me and Sylvio about this hiding place he had. We went in there. I don't know why he told just us, maybe it was because of Sylvio? I'm thankful for it, anyway. But we were stuck in that dumb town for months because the monsters wouldn't leave for freaking ever.''

''So this guy had like a safe bunker that he only let you know about?'' Keith said.

Lance nodded.  
''It had supplies and everything. We would've easily starved if it didn't.''

''It was so boring in there!'' Sylvio said, making everyone jump. They weren't even aware he was listening to the conversation.

Hunk laughed. ''So what did you do in there for all that time, bud?''

''Um.'' Sylvio said, chewing with his mouth open. ''I played pretend a lot. Uncle Lance cried a bunch.''

Lance went red as Keith's jacket and elbowed his nephew. ''Sylvio if you don't shut your mouth..''

He made a small ''oh'' noise and chewed with his mouth closes instead of wide open. Lance squeezed the bridge of his nose and shook his head as everyone laughed quietly.

''Well you're certainly doing good for a kid who was basically in solitary confinement for a month.'' Pidge commented. 

''Yeah, I'm surprised he's not like foaming at the mouth or something.'' Hunk said.

Lance folded his arms. ''He didn't get rabies from being locked in a room with me, Hunk.''

He shrugged and finished his fish. ''I dunno. Do you have rabies, Lance?''

Yelling in offense, Lance threw a fish bone at Hunk.

''Okay, okay, okay! No bone throwing, please,'' Shiro said, taking the remnants of the meal and standing up with a groan. ''I doubt anyones had a good sleep for a while, so make yourselves comfortable.'' And he slipped out of the cavern with the sack full of fish bones.

Lance pouted and looked at the two mattresses... As did everyone else.

''Okay. We're all thinking the same thing.'' Pidge said, intently eyeing the beds.

''Please don't tell me we're all gonna cram onto that thing together.'' Lance groaned.

Keith stood up. ''I'll leave you to figure it out, I'll sleep on the floor.''

Nobody wanted to sleep on the hard rocky floor, but there was no way they could all fit on the single mattress.

''A race. Whoever touches the mattress first gets it. Sylvio, you automatically get a spot with whoever wins, don't worry.'' Pidge said, standing up.

The little boy fistpumped the air.

Hunk, Lance and Pidge gave each other dirty looks as they prepared to race.

''Okay. On 3.'' She said, talking off her glasses. ''1.''

''..Are you guys sure this is a good idea?'' Keith said from the corner.

''2!''

''Wait, Lance, your ankle - !''

''3!!''

The three of them charged, and chaos ensued.  
About two strides in, Lance's ankle gave out on him and he landed flat on his face, but that still left Pidge and Hunk. She shoved him hard to try and steer him off course, but just ended up being thrown off and crashed into the wall, leaving Hunk to flawlessly crash onto the mattress, victorious.

Pidge groaned and slid down the wall into a heap of agony. ''I'm so glad I took my glasses off..''

 

 

 

-  
hi, notes aren't working so i put them here  
I needed this, and you probably did too. You're getting one more chapter of the gang at base and then I'm going to try and get into some actual plot! Thank you all for your comments, and enjoy the self indulgence.


	8. Moonlight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is short, I felt I had to get this scene down before I fell asleep.

With the moon high in the sky and the stoves embers almost completely died down, the cave was filled with the moonlight, flashing around them as it filtered through the water.  
The waterfall was white noise to everyones ears. It could make you feel relaxed or make you want to punch something, there wasn't really an inbetween.  
Lance luckily felt relaxed. His feet dipped in the water, easing the pain of his throbbing ankle. He gazed at the moon through the spray of the water, its cool light making his eyes shine and his skin glow.

Keith was sitting in the corner to the left, cleaning a knife with an old cloth. He made an attempt to sleep but he was better off staying awake than waking up with his back murdering him. He found himself watching Lance. Probably just out of boredom, he told himself.   
Pidge was at the back of the room, still working on her ''project''. Keith still didn't know anything about her, and the mystery continued with her earlier interactions with Shiro. He had to ask her about that tomorrow... Not now though. It was peaceful and he didn't want to disturb that.

It must have been a while since Lance last felt peaceful, Keith thought,   
He knew the feeling. Your hearts always in your mouth, beating just a little too fast for normal, your hands feel like they have to do something and you just have to wrench yourself from lying down because you're breathing too loud, they're going to HEAR you..

Keith shuddered. Shaking his head and setting down the knife he was cleaning, his gaze returned to Lance.  
Sighing softly and standing up, Keith made his way over to him.

"Hey." He said quietly, sitting on the stone ledge with him, rolling up his black trousers and dipping his feet in too.  
Lance looked up in surprise, but didn't let it show in his voice. "Oh, hey. You get bored quick, huh."

Keith raised his eyebrow at him. "How's your ankle?"

Lance lifted it up out of the water. It was still red but the swelling had gone down considerably. "Getting better."

He scoffed as Lance splashed it back underwater. "Lucky for you, seeing as you almost resprained it while doing that stupid race. What kind of idiot races in a rocky cavern thats the size of a bedroom?"

"This kind of idiot." Lance said with a cheesy grin, cocking a finger gun at himself.

"I can't believe you." 

Lance laughed softly and leant back on his hands.  
They sat in silence for a while, listening to the rush of the water. It wasn't awkward, it was comfortable. Or at least it was to Keith.

"Can you teach me sign language?" Lance asked, suddenly breaking the silence.

"Teach you?" Keith said, surprised.

He nodded. "I need to. I feel useless carrying about that dumb notebook."

"Uh, I'm.. not sure how good of a teacher I'd be." Keith said, looking at his hands.

"How did you learn in the first place? I don't think I've ever even met someone who knew sign language that didn't have hearing problems."

Keith nodded his head back towards where Shiro was sleeping.

"Shiro was a teacher at a school for people with disabilities. I tagged along sometimes."

"Yeah you know, I'll just tag along to your teaching job, that's totally normal. How do you even know the guy?"

"You ask... Way too many questions, Lance. I met Shiro when I was 14. Me and him have been through a lot."

Lance turned round to look at the three sleeping figures. Shiro had one mattress (Keith wouldn't let him give it up for Pidge or Lance, and the two agreed) while Hunk and Sylvio shared the other.  He glanced at Pidge, he was still working on her weird radio before he turned back round again.

"And now you're in the apocolypse with him. Huh."

"Yep."

Lance groaned and laid down on the rocky floor, spreading out his arms.

"What is it?" Keith said, moving away so Lance could become a starfish.

"Oh you know, the usual thoughts you have post-apocolypse. I just remembered what the fucks going on outside this dumb cave." Lance said with a heavy sigh, rubbing his face.

Keith pursed his lips and laid down with Lance. "That's normal."

Lance rolled his eyes and looked to Keith, seeing as they were eye level. "Yeah, I'm aware. I've been having them for quite a while now. But is it normal? Is any of this bullshit normal? Where the hell did those things even come from. What are their weaknesses! Why are there so many? ... Do they breed?!"

"Ooo-kay, every thought was reasonable except that one. Not going there." Keith said, turning his head to look back at Lance.

"Yeah." He said, looking into Keith's eyes. There it was again. Keith was suddenly so hypersensitive to everything Lance was doing. The rise and fall of his chest, the solemn pout on his lips, the way his eyebrows were lightly furrowed and he could've sworn he heard his eyelashes everytime he blinked. Remaining like that for a few seconds more, Keith had to break away and continue looking up at the moon. Were his cheeks burning? No, probably just hot because of all the people in a small place.

Lance cleared his throat and shuffled, turning his head back up as well. "What were we talking about?" 

"Uh, the world sucking."

"Oh yeah. I could write an essay about it. Not that I ever will, because essays suck."

Keith sighed. "There's no point asking questions. No one can answer them. We just have to do what we've done all our lives."

Lance looked to Keith.

 "We just have to carry on, Lance."

Laying side by side with their feet in the cool water of the river, the moonlight shining on their faces, the two boys closed their eyes and managed to fall asleep.  
And for the first time in a year, Lance had good dreams.

Dreams about carrying on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It gets interesting tomorrow. Check back in with us then! I swear, I'm going to finish this fanfic by the end of the week..


	9. The First Morning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The calm before the storm.
> 
> The filler before the plot.

Keith woke up with his back aching like hell. 

Groaning a little and rubbing his eyes, he sat up with a crack.

"Ew." He heard Lance say from beside him, who was sitting up and had his feet out of the water, cuffed jeans rolled up to above his knees and his short choppy hair sticking up from a long sleep.  
Keith stuck his tongue out at him, rolling his shoulders and cracking his neck.

Looking to Lance, he saw Shiro was sitting by him with a book.   
''Good morning Keith. I was just teaching Lance some basic sign language.'' 

'Oh.' Was all Keith said, standing up and shaking his feet dry. Guess he missed his chance to teach Lance by sleeping in. That's probably for the best, he doubted it'd end well. He ''yeeshed'' at his wrinkly feet from soaking in the riverside all night and continued kicking them dry.

Hunk and Sylvio were still laid on the mattress together, fast asleep, the young boy sprawled out like a starfish leaving Hunk to  curl up right on the edge, with any waking movement threatening to send him landing on the floor with a thump.  
Pidge was awake, *still* messing around with that radio of hers. Had she slept at all?

''Pidge, or whatever your name is,'' Keith said as he rolled his shoulders with a cringeworthy crunch, ''Are you ever gonna tell us what that thing is for? Because I don't think they're playing FM radio when half the world of overrun by monsters that hate sound.''

She deadpanned at him and then spread her thin lips into a sarcastic grin, or maybe a grimace?  
''Funny. I'll tell you what it is when it works, wisecrack.'' And resumed fiddling with it.

Well, it was hopeless trying to get anything out of her.

Keith rubbed his eyes and collapsed down between Lance and Shiro. He looked to the younger brunette.

''Hello, how are you?'' He test-signed to Lance.

Lance assumably just stared at him incredulously, glancing at his hands.

''Uhhhhhhh...... You... Well you obviously said hello, but -''

Keith folded his arms, looking to Shiro. ''Yep, you're a terrible teacher. I'm taking over.'' He said and shuffled to be parallel with Lance instead of his older friend.

Shiro looked like he was going to say something but seemingly decided against it, shaking his head with a good natured smile and mussed up Keith's hair as he stood up with a grunt.  
Moodily fixing his hair, he sat where Shiro had on and took off his leather fingerless gloves.

''Okay, let's start with the things you actually need to know - Wh - Uh. Hey.'' As Keith looked up from setting his gloves down, Lance had leaned incredibly close to him with an intense look.  
Blushing furiously, he leaned back and coughed. 

Lance realized how he had gone completely through Keith's personal space, Lance went pink in embarrassment, glancing around nervously.

''I was just - I was just trying to ask you something quietly!!'' He said in a hushed tone, like a stage whisper, avoiding eye contact with Keith.

''Well jeez, just ask me then.'' Keith hissed and leaned forward.

Lance huffed and swallowed, trying not to get so close to Keith again.

''Is - I mean, is Shiro okay? Has he gotten injured? The way he moves sometimes, it's all stiff and sometimes he just kinda cringes. His right, is it his right? My left, like th - Yeah his right hand, it bothers him a lot. Easy to notice when you're staring at his hands. Did he get hurt?''

Keith raised his brows and glanced at Shiro, who was sitting with Pidge. He leaned back again so not to make it awkward again.  
''Shiro has an auto-immune disease. It's boring to explain, but his body hates him, essentially. Thats why I make him stay here and I go and scavange, and that's why he gets the other mattress. His arm has other complicated issues. Takashi Shirogane is a doctor's nightmare, walking. He has a lot of stuff going on. He lives with it.''

Lance hummed, rubbing his jaw and looking to Shiro.

''How come he's got such a jacked body though?! Like, damn...''

Keith shoved Lance's chest and groaned, rolling his eyes to the back of his head. It wouldn't have surprised Keith if Lance had indiginantly been offended by the physical pushed, but he just laughed. It was by far the prettiest sound he makes.  
Wait, what? Pretty? Since when do the words Lance and pretty mix?

''Uh,'' Keith cleared his throat. ''Okay. Lets start with some of the necassary sign language you need to know...''

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello theeeeeeeere!  
> Sorry this chapter being so short, everything you write feels longer when you're tip-tapping away on a tiny keyboard. My wrists hurt. But we get into the driving storyline in the next one! 
> 
> I suppose I owe an explanation why I've been so absent from this fic, and the answer is: school!! I started school on the 7th and it's been wild since. I was homeschooled before so I had to tackle being new *and* having to study for two math tests in the first two weeks I had ever been in the public education system,, I have positively flunked both of them. I also had to deal with a little degrading harrassment so the morale was low! But I'm back!!  
> I read some comments that had been left and my fingers immediately went into overdrive typing up this little filler chapter. Updates shall hopefully be resuming, thank you so much for reading!! And for worrying about me,,, strangers on the internet are so nice.


	10. The Radio

“Yeah, like that. Jesus Lance, why is it so hard for you to just copy me?”

“Well maybe if you didnt do it so freaking quickly, I could follow it better!"

"Sign language isn't HARD, Lance -"

Fizz. Fizz. Crackle. Static. Static?

"Oh, oh, OH!" Pidge yelled, dropping their small tools and launching upright, grasping the portable radio that was making jerky buzzing noises, interrupting Keith and Lance, surprising Shiro, and causing Hunk to jolt and land on the cold floor with a thud.

"Uh, is it working?!" Shiro said, leaning in to inspect the chirpy radio.

Sounds were emitting from the speakers that sounded just like the static you hear between channels, but another tone was underneath, something that made it off putting, unnerving.

"Oh great, Pidge made a radio make creepy noises. I need more scary stuff in my life, you know, so thanks." Lance said with a disapproving look.

Hunk stirred from the floor, his black hair loose round his face now he had taken his headband off. He blinked and sat up.   
"What.. Was... Wassat noise?" He said, rubbing his eyes. They widened when he saw that it was the Creepy Radio hissing at them all. "Oh! OH! Oh my gosh, please tell me it's working."

Pidge remained focused, clicking through channels and fiddling with the additional antennae on the radio, pursing her lips.

Lance narrowed his eyes and looked at Keith quizzically, but he just returned the look with a shrug. They were both clueless as to what the function of Creepy Radio was.

But as Pidge clicked to a channel, the frequency changed completely. The tone was muted and a lot more similar to a white noise machine.   
Then, there was buzzing.

"h-l,- h-ell- -ool, -nd u-, i- y-- he-rin- c-me," 

Garbled and distorted speech sputtered out of the radio, and Pidge gasped at the top of her lungs, careful to adjust the frequency.

"Jackpot! People! Okay, okay! I'm gonna try and tune in, that's definitely a voice." Pidge said and lunged for her screwdriver. "Hunk, you're the mechanic here. Come help."

Hunk sleepily crawled over, while Lance was frowning deeply. Keith was about to speak before Shiro beat him to it.

"Hold on, you're trying - can - can we get an explanation now that it's working?"

Tongue poking out her mouth and glasses slipping down the bridge of her nose, Pidge quickly nodded.   
"This device tracks down any radio signals that are manmade, so this is no stray wave junk. We just heard a message made by a human, recently. It's taken forever to finally tune out all the spam messages that are still circling around. I heard an ad for a dry cleaners once, for "best winter 2010 deals". With all the radio stations empty and half destroyed theres all sorts of stuff out there, but not this! This was a person!"

Lance still didn't look happy. "A person. So what? You can find people without being all nerdy about it."

Pidge raises an eyebrow at him and continues tuning the channels. "A smart person. No idiot with a microphone and an antennae can do this. This person must at least know a little bit about technology if they can send off a looped message and not get killed while doing it! If we're talking a person with a radio station at their disposal, then that's amazing. Tons of soundproofing stuff."

"And if they're dead now, and this is just a ghost of a looped message?" Lance deadpanned, arms folded.  
Why was he being so negative about this?

Looking up with a snide glare, Pidge chose not to answer back to him and continue tuning until the voice became coherent.

"Hello, if th-s is w—king. Hello? Hello. Okay. I am rec —" 

Pidge cursed under her breath and thumped the radio until it buzzed to life, the audio clear as it probably could be.

"My name is Allura. My uncle and I have taken over what remains of the KFOY radio station in Sparks, Nevada. We have limited equipment but we are safe from the creatures - for now. Please, if there is anyone out there, if you're hearing this message, strength is in numbers. Find us."

And it cut back to static, until the message started again. Pidge turned down the volume as everyone took in the information.

"Why the hell is an English chick in freaking Sparks? That place sucks."

"You know Lance, I just knew you were gonna say something like that." Hunk said after a quiet yawn, looking at the buzzing radio.

Lance grinned sarcastically and dropped it as quick as it appeared. Keith was beginning to get a little worried but he tried to pry his eyes back to the others. Lance is just... Distracting. That's all. Because of his rude remarks. Just because of that.

"Well, who's coming to Sparks, Nevada with me? Road trip." Pidge said, standing up.

Hunk raised his hand with a smile. Keith thought for a second and raised his hand.

"Shiro?" Pidge said, looking up at him. He looked surprised to be mentioned and put a thoughtful hand on his hip.

"I'm not sure. It'd probably be best for me to stay here, but... I haven't left this forest in a disturbing amount of time. Yeah, I'm coming! I'm gonna join you guys." He said happily, smiling. Keith decided it was best not to argue, now that he made up his mind.

That just left Lance, and his still sleeping nephew. He looked uncomfortable.  
With a deep sigh, he ran his hand through his short hair. "I'm... I really don't wanna be seperated from you guys yet but.. I've still got a fucked up ankle. And there's Sylvio.."Lance said, wavering, almost like he was searching for an excuse.

"Keith can carry you!" Pidge said.

"Yeah, and I'll carry my buddy Sylvio. He's like a stick." Hunk added, giving Lance a friendly smile. He smiled back, but a little nervously. 

"Uh, just in case anyone was wondering, I will carry Lance. I definitely had a choice in the matter." Keith said, a little peeved his opinion wasn't mentioned. But it was worth it when he saw Lance's expression soften.

"Man, really? You'd carry a deadweight like me around just because?"

Keith scoffed and stood up.

"Not just because, idiot. Because like the weird radio girl said."

He offered a hand to Lance.

"Strength is in numbers."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No, I don't have geography homework to do. What are you talking about


	11. The trek to Sparks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang set out on the road to pursue the stray radio signal calling out for help from the radio station 30 miles away, and I finally start writing this damn story again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's Brittany, bitch
> 
> Hi!! I'm back! I'm sorry this update is short after all the time you've waited, I wanted it to be long but I didn't want to leave you guys waiting. Next chapter, we meet Allura!

Pidge stuffed the last of the supplies into the big rucksack that Hunk was carrying, strapping everything together and making sure nothing rustled inside, brushing her hands free of dust as she adjusts the strap of her tank top.

After a day of preparing and one more night of rest, they were ready to leave the present morning, just as the dusty auburn sun rose over the horizon of Nevada. Keith had his duffle bag, hanging off his front so he could carry Lance when the time comes.  
Shiro was rocking a fanny pack as he entertained Sylvio, teaching him the alphabet in ASL. Seeing as he was a school teacher, Shiro obviously had a way with kids.

“I think that's us,” Pidge said, running a hand through their hair and tying their shoelaces. “We ready to go?”

Everyone agreed in wordless noises of approval, apart from Lance. Pidge noticed and turned to him, hand on lithe hip and eyebrow raised. He looked a little peeved at their judgemental expression.

“If you weren't able to walk, Pidge, you wouldn't be any more as excited as I am, so don't look at me like that. Let's just hope this is worth it...” He said, standing up. 

Hunk pulled on the rucksack and offered his hand to Sylvio, who took it eagerly. It was hard not to like Hunk.  
Keith awkwardly looked to Lance, first at his messy brown hair curling and raggedly sticking out, then his small waist – no, no, don't look at that – and then to his sore red ankle, which was partially touching the ground but was clearly not to be walked on. Keith wasn't entirely looking forward to carrying Lance to Sparks, not just for the extra energy expended, but the way Lance breathed really annoyed him. The feeling of his heartbeat had such a strong effect to the very core of his being it made him want to punch something. But hey, this wasn't anymore pleasurable for Lance. Keith would hate to be in his situation, so he wasn't about to leave him behind alone.

“Notebook? Crayon? Chatterbox mode turned all the way off?” Keith said, stepping forward to Lance as everyone got up, prepared to exit the sweet cavern they called sanctuary.

Lance gave him a bared sarcastic smile and elbowed him. “Real funny. You prepared to carry a vessel of pure handsome for like, thirty miles?” He said with a cockiness and confidence that was very obviously artifical.

“Well, if it shows up, I certainly will. Really though. Will you be alright?” Keith said, locking eyes with Lance.

He looked surprised and gazed back, eyebrows lightly furrowed and pupils darting across Keith's face, as if to search for even a hint of snide or banter - but Lance couldn't find a trace. He nodded in reply.

“Yeah, I'll be okay, man. Come on, Back into silence we go.”

.

After hours of walking through winding local roads, blindly following sign posts and Pidge's instructions to their destination.  
Logically, they had a map. Lance silently compared their rucksack to Mary Poppins' bag as he saw Pidge reach a skinny wrist into one of the many pockets and pulled out a very wide brimmed sunhat about halfway through the trek. It shaded her body completely, and reminded Lance of a wearing a mushroom. 

Then again, that might be the heatstroke talking. The sun was blazing down on them all, high in the sky as midday peaked.  
Lance was certainly glad to be carried, and glad Sylvio was too. No one likes walking on baked concrete, you could fry an egg where their bare feet were dragging.

Lance fanned himself (and in turn, Keith) with the hardback notebook. He tried to do the math and figure out how long it would take them to get to Sparks but Lance sucked at math. He knew that humans could walk about 3mph, and Pidge estimated Sparks was about 30 miles away, roughly. Counting on his fingers to assist his math skills, Keith squinted in bewilderment as Lance did so right in front of his face, and batted his hands in short temper.

Before the two could escalate, Shiro stopped in his tracks and turned round to face everyone.

“It's not safe to keep walking under the direct sun,” Shiro signed. “Let's find somewhere shady to rest and catch our breath.”

Pidge scrunched her face up and held her arms up to the environment around them. They had just entered the freeway, with nothing but abandoned vehicles and desert. Maybe a gas station a few miles ahead, but nothing visible, the horizon was hazy.

“Where exactly are we gonna find shade?” She signed.

Shiro held his breath and looked round, hands on hips. Then, with a lit up expression, he pointed to an empty lorry with its metal doors wide open, shaded from the blazing heat at a fortunate angle. And, surprisingly, unlike a lot of vehicles, it wasn't turned over on it's side. 

"In there.'' He signed eagerly as he backed up and then swivelled round to hop inside the lorry and made himself comfortable on a wooden crate, many of which took up space in the van.

''Keith, you should let this guy outside more often. He's getting excited about an abandoned lorry.'' Pidge signed with her normal shit-eating smirk.  
Keith gave a sarcastic expression in return and followed Shiro into the makeshift shelter, eager to wipe the sweat off his brow. Pidge followed too, Hunk and Sylvio the last to trail along, Hunk nervously looking round the seemingly neverending plain of flat, hot ground. 

The Serrano boys sat at the lip of the lorry, Sylvio half asleep from the hot sun. Hunk had dug out a little blue bucket hat for him to wear earlier (cute, but seriously where'd they get a freaking kids sunhat from) and Lance flicked it playfully. Sylvio pouted his bottom lip and leaned against his uncle.

Keith was watching the interaction but tore his attention away when Hunk passed the water pouch to him. 

He took a swig and handed it to Pidge before getting up to poke at the untouched storage crates in the van. With any luck, it'd be preserved food. Or it could just be drugs. Then again, would the latter be that bad?  
He quickly figured out the clasps and lifted off the wooden lid, but he wished he hadn't.   
Inside the crate was several empty plastic pieces of packaging, and about three fucking dozen rats. 

As their pointed matty faces snapped up to look at Keith, he noticed not all of them were alive... and as nausea built up in his stomach, he also noticed the ones that were living were eating the dead ones.

And then, they start fucking squeaking. A cacophony of cannabilist furry cockroaches.

Listen, Keith has never been one to hate animals. Never was a big animal person, but by no means disliked them, even the ones people might think critters like rats or snakes are nasty and gross. If anything, he preferred those kind of animals.

But right now?

Keith wanted to burn every rodent in existence.

A thousand decisions ran across Keith's subconscious. Slam the lid shut? Nope, that's an even louder noise. Try and... Shush them? Fuck. Okay, there's only one more option left. Run for it.                                                

**Author's Note:**

> I draw Klance as well as write it, so check me out on instagram under the same @, fellas


End file.
